Helmut Marko reaction to Arvid Lindblad performance at Mexico GP says it all

Red Bull were left singing the praises of British teenage sensation Arvid Lindblad after a stellar Formula 1 audition. The 18-year-old drove for Red Bull in free practice at the Mexico City Grand Prix, filling in for Max Verstappen.

And he grabbed his opportunity to impress with both hands, posting the sixth fastest time of the 20 drivers on track. Lindblad's best effort was good enough to make him the quickest of the nine rookies on track and was even faster than Yuki Tsunoda in the other Red Bull.

"The pace is there - there's no arguing that," smiled team principal Laurent Mekies, speaking just a few minutes after the end of that practice session. Tsunoda was two places behind Lindblad on the timesheets with a best effort just under one-tenth of a second slower than the teenager.

Lindblad is in line for a promotion to F1 next season with junior squad Racing Bulls and his performance yesterday gave his chances of landing that seat a shot in the arm. Team adviser Helmut Marko, who has significant influence over Red Bull's driver decisions, was unprepared to give anything away.

But he was effusive in his praise for Lindblad and said: "Arvid was in a difficult situation. He was told, 'Don't do anything wrong, don't crash the car.' "He still delivered and he was the fastest rookie. His technical feedback was also very impressive. We are very happy with him. We got some answers, but I can't tell you what the driver line-up will be. We will wait a little bit and then decide."

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Marko said several weeks ago that Red Bull would not take a final decision over their 2026 driver plans until at least after this weekend's race in Mexico. But it has long been understood that Verstappen is set to get a new team-mate next year, with Isack Hadjar lined up for a promotion after an impressive rookie season.

Lindblad has long been tipped for one of the seats at junior squad Racing Bulls and did himself no harm with his performance on Friday. Should he be given the nod to step up to F1, it would mean one of Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson will lose their place on the grid.

Both drivers drove alongside Verstappen at the top Red Bull team this year, but Lawson was replaced after floundering in the first two rounds of the year and Tsunoda has failed to produce the performances and results he needs since being parachuted in. It may be the Japanese who is in most danger of losing his place with sponsor Honda ending their engine partnership with Red Bull in December.